Pubdate: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 Source: Santa Fe New Mexican (NM) Copyright: 2001 The Santa Fe New Mexican Contact: 202 E Marcy, Santa Fe, N.M. 87501 Fax: (505) 986-3040 Feedback: http://www.sfnewmexican.com/letterstoeditor/submitform.las Website: http://www.sfnewmexican.com/ Author: Mark Hummels,The New Mexican Note: Staff reporter Steve Terrell contributed to this report. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/johnson.htm (Johnson, Gary) STATE OF THE STATE: JOHNSON LAUNCHES LEGISLATIVE SESSION Gov. Gary Johnson said Tuesday he will push for a constitutional amendment to expand the power of the New Mexico governor by making the state attorney general and secretary of state appointees of the governor. The positions now are filled by voters in statewide elections under the state's plural executive, a divided-power scheme that has led to "stagnation and political infighting that stops all progress," Johnson said. The proposal gave an element of surprise Tuesday to Johnson's annual State of the State address, which otherwise focused mostly on reruns of the Republican governor's perennial initiatives, including tax cuts and school vouchers. It was 20 minutes into the 27-minute speech before Johnson mentioned drugs, the policy issue for which he has received the most publicity in the past year. Johnson is pushing a package of bills that emphasize treatment instead of incarceration for drug-related crimes. "Adopt our eight drug-reform bills and I guarantee that prison rates will drop, violent crime will decrease, property crime will decrease, overdose deaths will decrease, AIDS and Hepatitis C will decrease and more of those needing treatment for drug abuse will receive treatment," Johnson said. "In a nutshell, New Mexico has a chance to lead the nation in drug policy reform that will reduce the overall harmful effects of drugs." Yet Johnson made clear his priority is cutting state income taxes. He is pushing a $75 million tax cut that would drop top tax rates to 7.7 percent (from 8.2 percent today) in an effort to spur economic development. Twice during the speech, Johnson urged lawmakers to "put all of our efforts" toward reducing income taxes. His tax talk was interrupted three times by applause. Johnson said he would also fight for school vouchers, merit-based pay for teachers, easier establishment of new charter schools and a proposal to make the state superintendent of schools a cabinet position appointed by the governor. "Governor Johnson is once again making proposals that have little real support for public education," said Mary Lou Cameron, president of the state's National Education Association chapter, in a prepared statement. "Voucher proposals provide inadequate support to the schools that need the most help," Cameron said. "It's like taking food away from the dinner table and then becoming angry when the diners leave the meal hungry." Johnson urged wise use of an expected budget windfall, which has been driven by skyrocketing prices for oil and natural gas. "Let's address our critical capital needs for education instead of squandering it," Johnson said. "In fact, let's prioritize all capital spending. Let this session be the end of 'political pork' and the beginning of a reasoned capital appropriation spending plan." Johnson elaborated later on the subject. He said he has reached agreement with some key lawmakers in the House to prioritize school-construction projects with available bricks-and-mortar spending. Johnson also said he would support a bill to establish a commission to study and prioritize capital-outlay requests between legislative sessions. Historically, lawmakers divide up the money for pet projects in individual legislators' districts and appropriations are decided behind closed doors. Asked about his proposal to abolish elections for several state executive positions, Johnson said he believed consolidation would save money and increase efficiency. "Because it's political, it becomes its own fiefdom," Johnson said of such elected offices as state auditor, state treasurer, attorney general and secretary of state. "And because it's a fiefdom, it costs more and it isn't as efficient as it might be if it were appointed." Johnson said he would propose the attorney general and secretary of state become cabinet secretaries appointed by the governor, while the treasurer and auditor positions would be abolished. "It's our belief, for example," he said, "that the state treasurer's office could probably be adequately run through the Department of Finance and Administration with maybe a staff of about four to six, versus the current staff of 22." Johnson said his proposal, which would need voter approval, could be on the ballot in 2002 but would not take effect until 2007. Johnson leaves office at the end of next year and has said he does not have further political ambitions. Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Attorney General Patricia Madrid, both Democrats, took credit Tuesday for Johnson's proposal to abolish their independent offices. "It was about me," said Vigil-Giron, who said the proposal came because of a clash between her and Johnson during recent meetings of the state Canvassing Board. "I didn't do what he wanted and he couldn't control me," she said. "This was more of an attack than a recommendation." Madrid said in a prepared statement she found Johnson's recommendation "a tribute to the level of independence demonstrated by my office. "If the office of the attorney general were an appointed one, the Indian gaming lawsuit would not have been filed nor would there be calls for delaying electric deregulation in New Mexico." Johnson also discussed another area of dispute: school vouchers, which Madrid has said would run contrary to the state Constitution. Asked if an appointed attorney general would find vouchers legal, the governor replied, "You bet. They would be siding with me in that argument because there are attorneys that side with the other side of the argument. But it's just butting heads. It's always butting heads." Madrid suggested that's what the people want. "New Mexicans want an independent attorney general that will stand up for them," she said. "That is certainly what I will continue to do." A spokeswoman with Madrid's office said only seven states and the District of Columbia have appointed attorneys general, while the rest pick their top law-enforcement official through popular elections. Staff reporter Steve Terrell contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D